Nairobi, January 26,   2006 (HAN) – A consortium of three Saudi companies said it is in the final process of forming a joint stock petrochemical company with a Chinese partner. The three Saudi companies are Midroc, Sara Development Company and House of Invention (HOI) Company.

The Saudi group announced that part of the SR6.6 billion ($1.76bn) company's capital will be offered in an initial public offering and the rest will be distributed among the three companies and their Chinese partner, said a report in the Arab News.

The new company is set to establish a SR22 billion ($6bn) petrochemical complex in the Jubail Industrial City, located in Eastern Province, and is expected to create 2,500 new jobs for Saudi nationals. The production capacity of the new complex is expected to be two million tones of basic and secondary petrochemical products annually, said the company.

HOI Company CEO Abdullah Ahmed Bugshan announced that the new complex's initial phase of production would start in 2007 and the production of basic petrochemicals will commence no later than 2010.

He added that the group is currently negotiating with Saudi Aramco and Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) to supply the complex's medium and small size production lines with primary materials, said the report.

Midroc-Saudi Arabia is owned by the Saudi-Ethiopian business tycoon, Mohammed Hussein Al Amoudi. Amoudi, the largest investor in Ethiopia, is a major partner in the Swedish consortium Midroc, especially in its ABV Rock Group. Through Midroc-Ethiopia he was able to invest more than $1bn in the country, and to employ more than 15,000 workers, which turned it into the largest employer in Ethiopia, said the report.

Sheikh Abdullah Ahmed Bugshan, a senior partner in Abdullah Said Bugshan & Bros., a family partnership created in 1923, established HOI Company in 1997 to address the fast-growing communications and information technology sectors in Saudi Arabia. HOI Company provides high quality solutions and services in the areas of civil works, IT and communications systems, as well as a wide variety of supply and maintenance contracts.

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